Bananas are believed to have originated up to 10,000 years ago and some scientists believe they may have been the world’s first fruit. The first bananas are thought to have grown in the region that includes the Malaya Peninsula, Indonesia, the Philippines and New Guinea.
Since 2017, the third Wednesday of April has been designated as National Banana Day. For 2023, April 19th is Banana Celebration Day. Bananas are a tasty sweet fruit with a yellow peel but, you may not realize the great nutritional benefits available in this conveniently packaged food.
National Banana Day is celebrated to bring about a national drive to encourage healthy eating, especially for children, and reminds shoppers to think of bananas as a nutritious and natural food that they can add to meals or eat as convenience food. It also highlights how the banana is fun and versatile.
This year, Egesa FM joined hundreds of locals in Keumbu Market to commemorate National Banana Day at Kisii County, Kenya. Nancy Omweri, head of the cluster stated in an interview that the station in collaboration with Unilever and other stakeholders have organized a sensitization programme on banana value and to also highlight the importance of banana consumption to human life.
Kisii being one of the most productive regions in banana farmaing in Kenya had set aside over 3500 acres of land for bananas making it the leading crop planted in the county, producing a total of 360,000 tons of bananas annually in Kenya.
BY ESTHER WANGECI